Baby Bust: U.S. Fertility Rate Falls to Another Record Low [complimentary article]

The 2023 fertility rate (births per woman) was 1.62 on average in the U.S., well-below the replacement rate of 2.1.

As the Baby Boomer generation enters retirement, the next generation might be called the Baby Bust generation. 

New data released from the CDC show a 2% decline in the fertility rate in 2023, continuing a multiple decades-long decline.

The 2023 fertility rate (births per woman) was 1.62 on average in the U.S., well-below the replacement rate of 2.1.

The fertility rate is an estimate of how many children on average a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime. A rate of 2.1 is considered the level needed to maintain a stable population in a country (without considering immigration).

Low and falling fertility rates are common around the world, with the countries shown below as a few examples:

• South Korea: 0.78

• China: 1.1

• Italy and Spain: 1.2

• UK: 1.5

The countries with fertility rates over 2.0 are concentrated primarily in Africa, along with the Middle East, Central Asia, and Central America.

Commonly-cited factors associated with the declining fertility rate include broader access to cont…